the various sort of in hotels are recent. the. rebels are advancing towards tripoli but the libyan leadership dismisses the scale of their threat and calls for all parties to go sheer. violence snowballs in the middle east for the fourth day amid fears exchanges of fire between hamas and israel may lead to a ground offensive in gaza. but crackdown against english rioters gains momentum with harsh sentences handed to those who played only parts in the chaos and human rights groups say judges and politicians have gone too far. and the e.u. leaders promise of a single economic government fails to reassure anxious investors and turbulent markets as fresh trouble over greece once again threatens them.

with a look back at the past week's top stories and latest developments this is our team live in moscow libyan rebels say they're pushing on towards tripoli and claim they're now around thirty kilometers away from the capital they have also been reports of sporadic violence within tripoli itself but many people on the ground say that the situation is much calmer than those suggested by reports we can now crossed independent journalist lizzie feelings covering the civil war from tripoli is a good to see you so there have been some reports of fighting in tripoli have you seen that or been able to get any confirmation of that. yes well there have been reports last night there was some incidents in parts of tripoli which seem to have been

quite rapidly dealt with by the people here by libyan government so then people started to come out into the streets to rally in support of their leads are essentially and then after that there were a few more incidents it appears as though there have been a few snipers from the rebels shooting from buildings which obviously this is a very i'm talking about a very small number but the issue of snipers shooting from buildings what it does is it creates mass panic and it's very difficult for the libyan police the libyan army and the fallen teams here to deal with because of the threats of hurting civilians so it's clear as i was saying in my report last night that this is all part of the strategy to create mass panic and lust and fusion here. because nato has obviously failed in its military strategy and to create a military solution here so instead what we're seeing is

a massive psychological operation going on to try and weaken the government in the libyan government in that way behind me life is continuing as normal now again in tripoli the situation seems that it seems that stabilized you know within a matter of hours. the rebels are saying they're advancing towards tripoli are people in the city worried that there might be called to the blubaugh full do you think do they think the rebels will be pushed back. well you know we've been hearing from rebels from nato that nato allies essentially the rebels. a day a week or very close to tripoli we've been hearing this for the past five months that the people of tripoli have essentially got used to these claims and treat them very seriously we've been hearing that zawiya is under control that breaker is in country under control but the reality is that what is happening in these areas is that they're coming under intense nato bombardment and leaving the libyan army and

the volunteers essentially the tribes and on people in libya to move out of the area temporarily while the air strikes are taking place and then once the airstrikes subside and the libyan army and people move back into research other areas so the question is is how does nato expect these rebels on the ground to maintain any maintain any so-called capture of an area if they are so dependent on nato but bombing and obviously lack any kind of popular support to secure these towns and cities it's clear that they are not able to do so and the minute that nato leaves this country then. the two sides of the conflicts can sit down and negotiate the libyan government has been calling to calling for and the only obstacle to that diplomatic solution at the moment is the foreign intervention of the us france and britain and the other nato states and the persian gulf states do you think. will be prolonged of the september do you think we might see strikes

continue after september. well there is of course the possibility i mean there is a united nations general assembly meeting on september the nineteen where it appears as though they are going to call for a resolution to suspend the bombing but as we know in the past nato has not respected the united nations in iraq in israel or anywhere else so there is the likelihood that they will the nato is in a real dilemma now because us that they have failed to secure a military solution. but then obviously as we know the united states france and britain the arrogance of these these countries they can never just admit that like in afghanistan like in iraq and elsewhere that they got it wrong they expect to secure victory within a couple of weeks they have been unable to do so and this is because of the popular support of the libyan government here and so they are in a dilemma now where they can't just back down they need to find a way to exit strategy essentially that's what they need but. they

they need some kind of a way out some way to save face because it's a highly embarrassing situation for them the most ten years in afghanistan and now they're losing the taliban killing soldiers by the dozen almost on a daily basis now they're really in a big mess but of course in libya also one of the reasons why they're so desperate to secure some kind of perception of it to retrieve the psychological psychological operational campaign of confusion to the media is of course because they are pushing for intervention in syria and how can they justify its of the security council and the international community intervention in syria when they have so abysmally failed in securing any of the aims in libya let's remember that of course the aim in libya was supposedly to protect civilians and we have seen that they are murdering civilians here in the thousands and of course now the irony in london that human rights groups are condemning the british government for the arrest and

the treatment of those who stood up. against the british government during the so-called riots so really the british government and the western states should take the advice of their leave as the global south and focus on their own troubles back home rather than creating mess and more mess in countries like libya and syria. thank you so much reporting live from the libyan capital that was independent journalist his information. more on the violence elsewhere in the region just ahead as our tease and international reports on the latest from syria. what is the syrian army i live in the city or. the iraqi border. officials are saying operation is now over that the city has been freed from groups as you can see people are welcome in the soldiers as the weirdos. cross border violence has soared in the middle east this week with israel launching

airstrikes in gaza which fought back with dozens of rocket attacks israeli led assault killed fifteen people leading hamas to call off the defacto ceasefire but it puts out exchanges began four days ago following a series of attacks in which eight israelis were killed near the egyptian border israel pin the blame on a gaza based group called the popular resistance committee although it's tonight responsibility israeli government is reportedly considering a ground offensive inside gaza but as our thing is for this new report from tel aviv many there believe the escalating violence could be used to divert attention from israel's domestic problems. thousands of people are not in here in cabbage holding candles in memory of the victims of crime and the demonstrations are happening not only here in tel aviv but also into the cinema and a number of other major cities around israel in stark contrast to the protests what's been happening over the past month the mood here is very somber people are

very seriously affected in terms of what the latest wave of violence is because now talking to protesters they say that they're not surprised by this recent spate of violence many telling me that they've been expecting it for some time they believe that the israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and his government will use the latest conflict with gaza as an excuse to bring people to sleep it's a good look around here people like young many of them out in the desert and if the what's to happen they would be caught up to the winds and fight people here those very strong in this instance they are still going to be demanding issues of social justice they really are protecting you know the month of living they're talking about egypt case and they're talking about health services they talking about security people here saying that not only do they want these two months of grace but they also want israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu to step down in the hot seat television. to britain now where two young men have been handed the tough

jail sentences for their facebook posts which called on others to write none of the messages actually lead to any trouble when the man said they'd been meant as a joke a jail terms of spock's a wave of public condemnation accusing judges of overreacting nazis either bent on story. four years behind bars for the riot that didn't even happen jordan black sure and perry sutcliffe kenan were banged up for inciting disorder on facebook no one turned up after their invitation to riot which they later said was a drunken joke but now they face sentences even tougher than most looters and our worry is that it is an imbalance and a four year sentence for example would normally be given to somebody for a previous whatley harm for holding someone up with a knife or even for. some form of sexual assault so it seems to me that that there is a danger that the courts are moving into disproportionate territory and i'm actually

devalues our response to more serious crimes the government encouraged courts to dish out harsh sentences by using the public disturbance as an aggravating factor it's meant this man anderson fernandez could even be sent to jail for theft of just two scoops of ice cream because like this one denying bail to most offenders and ignoring any claims of previous good character of the one thousand two hundred seventy seven people charged so far two thirds have been reminded in custody that's way up on last year's rate for serious crimes this is just ten percent some offenders even being made homeless is their punishment with local governments taking away their houses but many say it's all simply cause more harm than good i think this is very unwise the move to remove people from hosing interim of benefits because actually if we are saying that some of the crime that we saw on the streets was an expression of people not feeling porta society not feeling part of our

communities and these measures are actually going to push people further away from society further away from our communities and far more likely to commit crime the facebook case is the first sign of the government's desire to crack down on social media sites like twitter were applauded by the west for mobilizing the masses in the arab world but they were also instrumental in the u.k. riots so now the prime minister wants it to stop. we are working with the police the intelligence services and industry to look at whether it will be right to stop people communicating via these websites and services when we know they are plotting violence disorder and criminality when social media fueled revolutions in egypt and tunisia britain called it democracy but now the shoe's on the other foot when troubles closer to home very. poor.

country. a prime minister says this is where britain fights back but it's these fighting fire with fire could only fan the flames of civil disorder after bennett r.t. london. here with our team still ahead of the knights of the sky. for the crowds on the ground this is an exciting spectacle but that's not quite the emotion that's going through my mind at the moment because i'm about to see what happens from inside the cockpit. all the frills and some spectacular stunts on the final day of the max international air show in moscow. syrian state media have condemned u.s. and european calls for president as sad to step down saying the move is part of a conspiracy russia's also refused to back the cause saying as should be given more time to implement promised reforms this comes in the wake of a crackdown on anti regime protesters but as r.t.

as many of national reports while the west sees the government's action as oppression some in syria see it as liberation. job is done and city liberated there is or in the east of the country has become good last year in the city the army left after clearing off extremists have been terrorizing the citizens for weeks and military claim is that he's under the rates put up barricades became a city for hiding just like hostages. soldiers of the syrian army are living in the city. near the iraqi border those references are saying operation is now over there the city has been freed from armed groups as you can see people are welcome in the soldiers as the waiters but while tanks have been trying to make their way through jubilant crowds thousands of kilometers away in the white house a decision has already matured president bashar al assad is the one who's

terrorizing the syrian people and and that. the transition to democracy in syria has begun and it's time for assad to get out of the way not everybody has agreed there moscow has insisted that assad should be given time to implement promised changes his recent decisions to release political prisoners repeal emergency law and allow peaceful demonstrations have indicated the right direction but external pressure could still bury a fragile transition seriously reforms would give forces to syria it will make the country stronger as syria's enemies don't want syria to be strong america for instance they're sick and tired of a strong syria and they want to weaken it's they don't want revolves they need instability and chaos across the country as long as possible and their pressure works for it with contradictory reports about policemen and security officers killed across the country and the army's continued crackdown on protesters despite

president assad's pledges to the un to stop the tree operations the syrian people no longer know who to trust and what to believe. with a country at the crossroad again the on themselves with patience and refreshing r.t. syria. journalist neil clark says the west is not really interested in peace and syria is more interested in gaming further influence in the region. what u.s. and its allies really want is regime change in syria and they're not really generally interested in ending the terrible situation with an internal between both sides and that's the reason it's happening today because we had present sad said he was going into his multi-party system in syria he said operations against. randy and what we can sell the u.s. saying well that's good that's a good move we get these calls for him to step down and the great run of the assad regime in those countries and is really is its foreign policy it's friendly with

iran has been going to russia and the aim of the game is to try to remove assad and install another kind of regime in. syria to have a more western line. collective economic government that's the latest measure proposed by top you need is in their bid to hold market turmoil and reverse the stagnation across the continents but the latest ideas have found little support among investors who say it's come as too little and simulates angela merkel and nicolas sarkozy rejected the idea of euro bonds favored by the markets and seen by many as the best way of indulging from the debt crisis political analyst and author william and dol believes there's little real substance to the latest measures but i think the collective economic government that american sarkozy are talking about is really a desperate political ploy to try to create the illusion of stability where the underlined stability doesn't yet exist there is no political will not in germany

nor in the rest of the eurozone countries for as surrendering national sovereignty to a collective entity that has any decision power so it's simply a shimmer that's been thrown out there to try to calm the markets the alternative really is is to get steve will export market relations and i think above all with russia and central asian republics trying to and the rest of asia in the middle east and if that is created then you can have a growth vector that leads you out of this debt impasse that the eurozone countries are in without that and so long as as the. dollar system dominates international financial relations that moody's standard and poor's do the rating on sovereign debt for european union countries and that there is no independent european credit rating agency and there isn't is no. growth perspective only austerity and there is no up to this crisis. and in yet another blow to the euro zone the

block second one hundred sixty billion euro bailout for greece may be under threat happens as agreed to provide good and with collateral in return for its contribution to the financial rescue package but sparked indignation among the other fifteen donors some of which are now also demanding collateral and so ever warned that greece is incapable of handing out such guarantees the e.u. commission says it will now investigate whether finland's actions were appropriate . while world markets continue to tumble on bleak economic news worldwide the blame game is still in full swing from bickering u.s. political parties to investors and credit rating agencies few major players have escaped unscathed but as artie's lower list of reports some may find themselves suffering from more fallout than others. breaking news the united states has just lost its top notch triple a credit rating from it was the downgrade heard around

the world in a strong reaction to the rating downgrade on the house told us for its. standard and poor's took the u.s. from straight aaa student to one notch below for the first time ever that marks were handed down for the nation's debt and politicians inability to agree on rein in the tea party downgrade a lot of it has to do with the failure of the prez united states i think this is a tea party problem the greater in chief says the u.s. has become a bit more. a stalwart response from the downgrade or that helped ratchet up the yeah tricks of the debt ceiling debate with the help of the other ratings agencies of course stealing the show from bickering politicians with their eyes on the debt deal they nabi missing really a larger concern because there is growing evidence today that the u.s. credit score is going to get hit now that the us has gotten hit just how much does

s. and p's mark actually count well not much according to sun light investor jim rogers but it's not because the country isn't broke america is going down the tubes we're the largest debtor nation in the history of the world it's because of the source these low rating agencies have been wrong about nearly everything for the past ten or fifteen years don't pay any attention to them so just how does the report card stack up for the major ratings agencies themselves they are s.n.p. moody's and fitch let's assess test one. in the mortgage crisis of two thousand and eight these are the same agencies that rated the toxic sub-prime debt aaa so i mean how do we take them with any level of credibility after that. well let's see if they get any from tess to the too big to fail banks and insurers during the financial crisis. bankruptcies if i investment grade rating still being meant to bear stearns right to the very g. they gave

a aaa rating to. good grades for firms that collapsed or were bailed out because of bad debt in fact the financial crisis inquiry commission said the three credit ratings agencies were key enablers of the financial meltdown and this brings us to test three ethics ratings agencies are paid by the investment firms they grade and moody's and s. and p. are publicly traded which means they may be more driven to increase profits for shareholders raising this debate right now you have the companies that are being judged paying the bill and i could live in a big berkshire but mr buffett also pointed out the market requires it because these ratings agencies has been around forever so they're in shrine by government regulations which oh yeah they have a stake in test for objectivity for a. financial reform has restrictions on rating agencies and the rules that are yet to be written and they care a huge deal about what those rules. would surprise me if they were trying to curry

favor with politicians in fact they spent a combined total of one point seven six million dollars this year lobbying washington over the regulations which brings us full circle to the downgrade of u.s. credit the u.s. was downgraded by s. and p. because of government debt or the government ran up that debt in part because they bailed out the big banks then a.i.g. back in two thousand and eight the one saddled with all of those bad mortgage bonds which the ratings agencies graded triple a when in reality they were a d. or an f. makes you wonder if the ratings agencies themselves deserve a downgrade lauren lyster r.t. washington d.c. . but the classified rather soon fifty fifty generation fighter has made its international debut at the humax air show near moscow this week and although it's now the final day of the show a lot of spectacular performances are still to come as artie's syria reports. we're

here the last day of the max two thousand and eleven air so now i'm drenched as you can see and i'm also going but definitely today it's in full swing already things happening at the same time you still have the crowds coming close to these massive beast trying to get as close as they can get and also of course we still have the air show aerobatics teams giving us a side today we're expecting to get a good brush a nice a solace a swift to show us their performances and inside the tents you can see the exhibits where it really is a feast for enthusiasm baby ation now for the last five days today's the sixth day we've seen some pretty impressive launches we saw the t. fifty first russian fifth generation stealth fighter launching its first public debut and we saw what it back into with the air this will go against you have twenty three of the u.s. air force now that's on the military side of the civil aviation side so the launch of the test twenty one that is a good range play that will go against the likes of the airbus a three twenty is still a prototype but will be interesting to see it once it is out there in the field now

also we saw the big shots i saw the a three eighty the boeing a dreamliner and of course the savoy supercenter when you see those classic ways you just hope that the eleven hour flight will be a lot more comfortable for us passengers now as for me these are really big it suited for me actually i've been looking at some small place and there's one that really caught my eye let's take a look. because you can see i found myself a toy business a little for me this is how i like it i you know sitting in a car with and watching aerobatics the performing in the air it's like i have my very own simulator but i wouldn't dare move it not even if my colleagues on board is braver than i am actually went inside infinitary aircraft with an aerobatic c. and he had one heck of a right like about. engine. instruments. runway. and then it's take up for the russian aerobatics display team.

their nine first class pilots have performed over two hundred times in the past nineteen years but they all have to start somewhere. andre is training to join the team he thinks he's nearly good enough now but still remembers his first fight as a soldier i looked him in the present without any warning they told me i was going to do the next flight on my own for i had no time to be scared there was no longer an instructor to my right it was unforgettable takeoff you're on your own controlling the plane then when you land you've done it. he has moved who is trying to hold them the knew this they practiced most weekends thinking of new tricks and practicing old ones however even with years of flying and training experience between them it never becomes easy. or difficult was slow look at it when you leave the cockpit or you can squeeze

a gallon of sweat from your suit what if your knees are shaking because it's extremely different stressful and anyone with a little through. so with that gut wrenching fear ringing in my ears i was told it was mine to put crowds on the ground this is an exciting spectacle but that's not quite the emotion that's going through my mind at the moment because i'm about to see what happens from inside the cockpit. we did the loop the loop all the planes just meters apart. but when it came to the fountain i nearly blacked out. white faced but not defeated i returned. to pick up his.

kit. but i could also see some of the strains that killed. the birds get better for you know you might speak for the crowds but serial acrobatics are interested for the pilots it's always a difficult job that a terrorist but so next time you look up at their speeding planes spare a thought for the pilots in some way. don't bottom out a huge very brave bet on ron has plenty still ahead including his support around fifteen minutes but i'll be back with a recap of our top stories in just a few months.

to. close off. the angle of approach. ushant future flights are awesome our team takes to the max airshow. mission free accreditation free comes for charges free. range free. free stooge.